Samuel Moore

Class of 1986

Samuel Moore founded the successful business forms company, Moore Corporation.

Samuel began working at various jobs in the printing industry at the young age of 12, and ten years later he opened his own printing shop in Toronto.  In 1882, a mechanically produced sales book that gave both customer and storekeeper a record of transactions caught his eye, and along with a partner he formed the Paragon Black Leaf Counter Check Book Company, where he began producing books containing sales slips with flip-over carbon paper.

Using the slogan “One writing for many purposes”, it took just two years before Samuel’s company was producing the sales books from plants in the United States.  By the time Paragon was renamed Moore Corp., his acquisitions had expanded product lines to include business forms, supplies, and related services.  Moore Corp. went on to become a billion dollar company exporting to more than 45 countries.

Samuel also founded the Metropolitan Bank of Toronto, and when it was later absorbed by the Bank of Nova Scotia, he became President and Chairman of Scotiabank, as well as holding directorships with many other companies.

He played an important role in the development of the YMCA in Canada, and was a major supporter of the Canadian Baptist Church.

On success, Samuel said: “Success is to have done that which has benefited the largest number of people, and which has left the world better because you have lived.”